It’s a good idea to be able to show you’ve tried everything to remedy your problem. It might help, and for record, write a letter to company outlining everything you’ve gone through.

In letter make sure you ask for exactly what you expect them to do! Do not expect them to figure it out because they won’t.

Secret Weapon: Small Claims Court*

A small claims court case is best-underused tool for people who’ve been screwed by big - or little - companies. It’s customer’s weapon of mass destruction!

I know, you’re saying ‘you can win but you can’t collect.’ That’s not way big companies see it. Believe me, they don’t want legal judgments against them hanging over their heads and will almost always take these claims very seriously. Often, just filing or even threatening to file a complaint will get attention and results you seek. 99% of time it is far more expensive for companies to defend these cases than to make good on their original promises. If stating you’re intention to file doesn’t get attention order they receive to appear in court is guaranteed to. And if they don’t show up you win by default.

Case in point: Recently I got a long-overdue reimbursement check from a health insurance company. How? After many, many frustrating conversations and unreturned promised phone calls I left this message: “I have spent all time I’m going to with you people. If this matter isn’t resolved to my satisfaction by tomorrow at 3pm I am filing a small claims court suit for xxx $’s against your company.” Result? The check was overnighted to me.

Don’t let them intimidate you! It’s oldest trick in book. If you file, you’re likely to receive a letter from defendant’s legal department insisting your claim is “frivolous.” They will then threaten to counter-sue you for their legal fees (big bucks) if you lose. Unless your claim is intentionally ridiculous, don’t fall for it! Just losing doesn’t make a case frivolous. This tactic usually means they’re scared.

Absolute musts! You must have records of what your claim is and what you’ve been through before filing. Your claim must have merit! There are no guarantees you’ll win should you go to court but if you don’t have your records and documentation in order, you’ll lose.

An Ounce of Prevention You can lower your risk of future problems. Before you do business with a company check to see if they’re listed and/or rated with Better Business Bureau. They have an Online Reliability program and companies who participate have to agree to dispute arbitration in order to participate.

File a Complaint Online: To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. This info courtesy of PREOWNEDCARS.COM. Visit us at HTTP://WWW.PREOWNEDCARS.COM, where 7% goes to charities. *I am not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on Web. The following is from my research and personal experience. Note: small claims court rules vary from state to state, however, you can find out what you need at http://www.lawguru.com/faq/17.html. Sponsored by PreOwned Cars: The dot com with a heart. 7% goes to charity.

The best business building method that you need to have in place is a way to capture data from your visitors. You need to be able to capture your visitors name and email address. Make sure you have a form on your web site to do this. Offer your visitors free information, reports, or courses in exchange for their name and email address. With this method you are building yourself an opt-in email list of people that you can contact later.

You can follow up with them and announce new products on your site. You can send them your ezines or articles and build a relationship with people that you will be able to sell to over and over again. Just be sure to include an option for them to be able to remove themselves from your list. And if they request to be removed, remove them.

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